STUFF ABOUT GOD AND CHRISTIANITY | Dr. Ron Braley
Human life is valuable; we cherish ours above all else. Yet, Jesus said that God-fearing Christ-followers would willingly give up everything to enter God’s kingdom, even under severe persecution in the last day: “And they overcame (Satan) because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” (Revelation 12:11) In today’s column, you’ll meet such a martyr who had much to lose but infinitely more to gain: third-century Vibia Perpetua, a noblewoman of Carthage in the Roman province of North Africa.
Perpetua, 22, who had a breastfed infant son, had recently completed her discipleship and been baptized when she was condemned to die in the arena for her allegiance to God and Christ. Understand that her discipleship and martyrdom occurred when cheap grace, with its self-centeredness, and today’s “get-saved-quick” culture, would have been unfamiliar concepts.
Discipleship often took up to three years and required close mentoring and observation to ensure the trainees, or catechumens, truly understood the potential cost of their faith before being admitted to the Christian community and, presumably, God’s kingdom.
Perpetua weighed the costs and chose to relinquish all earthly pleasures for heavenly joys beyond imagination, even though she was offered the chance to keep her life and her infant son by denying Christ.
What you’ll read now is from her diary, which was completed by an anonymous eyewitness and friend after her death.
• Sentenced to death for becoming a slave to Christ: “Hilarianus passed sentence on all of us: we were condemned to the beasts, and we returned to prison in high spirits.”
• Great joy and evangelism: “Some days later, an adjutant named Pudens, who was in charge of the prison, began to show us great honor, realizing that we possessed some great power within us. … By this time the adjutant who was head of the (jail) (became) a Christian.”
• Death march: “… It was chosen that their sex might be matched with that of the beast. So they were stripped naked, placed in nets and thus brought out into the arena.”
• Out with the old, in with the new: “… The heifer tossed Perpetua and she fell on her back. Then sitting up she pulled down the tunic that was ripped along the side so that it covered her thighs, thinking more of her modesty than of her pain. … She screamed as she was struck on the bone; then she took the trembling hand of the young gladiator and guided it to her throat.”
Perpetua showed no one would willingly die for something they didn’t truly believe in.
The apostles and early church fathers wouldn’t have lied about the good news of God’s kingdom out of fear of being held accountable by their peers. This should make you think about what’s ahead while you still can.
You might wonder, “Ron, where’s the power button to turn on the kind of faith Perpetua had?” Let’s find out next time.
Blessings and peace.
Braley, a locally based minister, Air Force veteran, husband and father, earned a Master of Divinity degree from Regent University in 2018 and a Doctor of Ministry from the same school in 2021.
